An intravenous (IV) catheter is typically mounted over an introducer needle having a sharp distal tip in order to properly insert an IV catheter into a patient. At least the distal portion of the catheter tightly engages the outer surface of the needle to facilitate insertion of the catheter into the blood vessel. The distal tip of the needle preferably extends beyond the distal tip of the catheter.
Although typical IV catheter and introducer needle assemblies generally perform their functions satisfactorily, they do have certain drawbacks. Some PIVCs have issues with stability of the catheter hub when advancing it and are prone to free spinning on the insertion needle during the insertion process. Oftentimes, the catheter hub includes a push tab to aid in advancing the catheter hub. As the catheter hub advances, in some cases, it experiences rolling where the catheter hub spins along the axis of the insertion needle. This can cause a problem when the push tab rotates out of reach of the finger being used to advance the catheter hub.
In some cases an edge is provided on the catheter hub so that the user can advance the catheter hub regardless of its angular position. There is a concern in that the edge becomes quite uncomfortable to a patient when the catheter hub has been taped down at the insertion site thus forcing the edge against the patient's soft tissue.